I was a freshman in high school when I went on a splurge to join as many clubs as possible. I ended up in Mrs. Spaker's room; she was my school's photography teacher and she also ran the photography club. From there, I learned all about the specific details of what made a camera work, how to take pictures from various angles, etc. I fell in love with photographing the world around me and soon enough, I just started capturing as many moments as possible. There is something quite beautiful about looking through my 5,000-plus photos and reminiscing on instances I thought I had forgotten. I have caught people in their best (and worst) moments and I have photographed my atmosphere in order to appreciate the tiniest of details around me. All of these pictures are not edited and are from periods of my life that I will save for years to come. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed capturing them!

(May, 2014)

Mrs. Spaker took the photography club on a field trip to Stony Brook park. I distinctly remember this is right before my class graduated. I love how the leaves fall in front of the sun.

(May, 2016: Allegany State Park)

My friend from school invited a bunch of us to go camping a couple weeks after classes got out. It was one of the craziest, most memorable camping trips of my life, to say the least. This is at the lake near the campsite where you can go kayaking and swim.

This picture was taken in Las Vegas a couple years ago. My sister and I were visiting our family for the summer and they took us to see a play outside. Some of my favorite memories were made in Vegas and every time I see this picture, I'm reminded of how happy I was there.

(May, 2015; 2 am)

Oh, if anyone loves Alfred University at night the way I do, then no explanation is necessary: you know exactly where this picture was taken.

(June, 2016)

This picture is from the Ontario Pathways right as the sun was setting. When the summer started, my sister and I went on many adventures to explore the area and we found this beautiful view.

(August, 2014)

I love this picture for so many reasons. I used to live in the suites at Alfred on the top of the hill and if you've ever lived there, then you know how breathtaking it is when the sun sets.

(August, 2014)

When I lived with my dad in high school, I started having a thing for the sun, which sounds weird (I know). But I especially loved the sunrise. I think it's because it was a personal challenge for me to get up and see the sunrise unless I was staying up all night to watch it. The summer before I started college, I convinced my friends to go see the sunrise. We all woke up around 5 am, went on an adventure to our favorite trails and ended up at Lake Ontario in Rochester to watch the sunrise around 6 am. We then ate our weight in pancakes at Denny's, but that's beside the point. It was definitely a pivotal moment before we all went our separate ways.

(May, 2014)

This picture was also taken at Stony Brook Park on a field trip. I love taking photos where the sun shines through the leaves.

(August 8th, 2014 at 5:56 am)

I believe this photo was captured on the same day my friends and I went to see the sun rise. I'm a night owl, so seeing this definitely made me appreciate something that I used to think of as trivial.

(October 11th, 2015 at 5:51 pm)

I took this picture just a couple days before something very traumatizing happened to me. I still have a hard time talking about it, even to my family. How odd is it to think that I was so happy in this moment and how just a few days later, everything that I deemed "normal" was flipped upside down. After this event shook my world, I stopped taking photography like I used to. But, I look at this picture and find myself appreciating the little things more and more: dinner with my family, my sister's laugh and how my cat Luna drinks out of the faucet. If you look closely, you can see how the lights border the bridge; the entire vibe of this picture is eerily calm and peaceful.

I often have a hard time truly loving what I have in front of me. But when I take photographs, especially these that I am sharing with you, I am making a conscious effort to value and recognize what makes this world so damn beautiful. Photography is one of my passions and I hope I carry it with me for the rest of time.